Last week we looked how we could really create a prosperous New Year by putting some of the universal laws to work in your favour – the Law of Abundance, the Law of Attraction and the Law of Accumulation. According to the experts, diligently applying these success principles can increase wealth and money into your life.

Unfortunately, my New Year brought an unwelcome present in the form of a vicious flu bug which relegated me to bed for several days. With plenty of time on my hands to reflect on what’s truly important, I thought that if I had to choose between wealth and health, my prosperity wishes would be out the door in an instant.

What’s the point of being rich if you don’t feel good? Sure, you could afford to pay for a really nice hospital room, but you’d still be sick and miserable.

Luckily we don’t really have to choose between a healthy lifestyle and prosperity, but it occurred to me that many of us make unhealthy choices in our pursuit of more: more money, more things, more recognition, always more, more, more.

It seems our society is based on the ‘Supersize’ principle used in many fast food restaurants: don’t be satisfied with just a regular burger – load on more beef, double the fries, have endless soda refills, and while you’re at it, throw in some apple pie!

This ‘more mentality’ really makes us slaves to money, where we sacrifice our time, relationships, health, and freedom just to make more money. We’re constantly caught up in the rat race of working harder to earn more to meet the consistently increasing demands we set on ourselves.

It’s no longer okay to keep your five-year-old car that’s paid for, you have to put yourself back in debt to buy a new model SUV. If high fashion dictates that the dress that costs as much as your rent is now passé, you head back to the store for the latest style.

Overconsumption has become a way of life, leading to spiraling debt burdens and lower savings rates around the world. The problem with ‘more’ is that it’s never enough, we can never achieve satisfaction with what we have, no matter how much it is.

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What can we do to put the brakes of on this never-ending obsession for more?

Vicki Robin, co-author of Your Money or Your Life, says that it’s important to create a sustainable lifestyle for yourself. Robin advises us to ask ourselves now and every day, ‘How much is enough?’‘ more mentality’ Other crucial questions that can help us to determine the effects of our are:

‘Does overconsumption really make me happy?’
‘Should I buy whatever I can afford, no matter what the effect on others or the earth?’

Robin points out that we need to “reframe the game” by placing more emphasis on saving and less on consumption. “By getting out of debt, saving money and building financial security, you consume less. By living life at a slower pace, you consume less,” she notes. Robin denies that being frugal is a form of depriving yourself.

“Deprivation is pouring your time and talent into your job while ignoring your health and loved ones”, she declares. “Poverty is wanting more than you have. Wealth is having more than you want.”

Sally Lever, an online newsletter writer, coined a phrase – ‘downshifting’ – which means living more with less. “Downshifting” means trading a high standard of living (more money) and a low (often highly stressful) quality of life, for a higher quality of life,” explains Lever. “A downshifted life is a simpler life and often richer in time rather than money.” So, it’s all about the quality of your existence not the quantity of your possessions.

If downshifting sounds ideal to you, Lever offers these tips to get you into a lower gear:

1.   Have an income of some form that’s higher than your living costs. If downshifting means quitting your job to find a less stressful option, or to start your own business, ensure that you have at least six months’ living expenses in an investment account to carry you through.

2.   Shut out temptation to spend. Put away credit cards, and buy only from the cash you actually have. Ignore the media demands that entice you to spend on what they say you ‘ought to have.’

3.   Get out of debt. Change your lifestyle and spending habits, and put the excess funds towards debt reduction.

4.   Sell the equity tied up in your home or other possessions to create money. You could move to a smaller home or live in a less expensive area.

A downshifted lifestyle usually means making do with less money, but it can eventually lead to more money in the long term. Re-directing your spending money into savvy investments can create residual income streams; and following your heart rather than chasing money, may lead you to find a new career that’s not only personally fulfilling, but profitable.